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Three, two
Hello everyone, I'm Sunny Bee
And I'm Christopher Lee, tour guide and bodyguard for Sunny Bee
And we're enjoying a beautiful day here in the
U.S. state of California
So let's get started, because It's Sunny
Outside in San Diego!
(Music)
(Airliner landing)
Almost nightfall when my crowded, 6-hour flight finally arrived in San Diego
How lovely to be greeted by live musicians right in the airport!
(Music)
All I was missing was a dance partner!
What a cool way to be welcomed to a city
Especially after a long, cross-country flight
(Music)
Bravo San Diego! (Applause)
Bravo indeed! By this time I was very hungry
So luckily my good friend Jodi and her big, lovable boyfriend Christopher were available
for dinner
They took me for Thai in the lively and LGBT-friendly Hillcrest area
Jodie and Christopher are straight, but love living in Hillcrest
They are strongly supportive of LGBT issues
and strongly supportive of MY transition
That's Christopher
Jodi is very camera shy, so she's operating the camera
This place is pretty good. I forget what it's called, but it's really tasty
I enjoyed it
Fantastic company. I have to throw that in there!
Aw, Thanks, Christopher!
Relatively new to San Diego, he likes the city's outdoorsy options and the arts
The hiking, you can go to the coast, bike trails, out in East County, there's plenty
of desert hills
Of course San Diego has a world-famous zoo and a famous marine theme park
But since both zoos and aquariums make me really, really depressed, I scratched them
both off my list
Regular viewers of course know that I love to walk
so Jodie, Christopher and I would spend a lot of time doing what I enjoy most about
traveling
exploring the city on foot, people watching and just letting life happen
the next morning, Jodi and Christopher met me at my hotel downtown
Despite my love/hate relationship with its parent corporation
I stayed at the Marriott Marquis San Diego, because of it's curvy architecture
and its location near San Diego's trolley line
I was happy to find that Marriott considers me an elite member
allowing me to wait in a shorter line at check-in
Well worth the wait, because they assigned me to a room with a view
I learned from Christopher that my hotel is in the Marina District
also very close to the historic Gaslamp Quarter
Depending on the night of the week it can be very charming
Otherwise Friday nights and Saturday nights and specifically this weekend will probably
be very active with the 20-something, 30-something crowd downtown
Active in a good way
Party night
Because Christopher is so big and tall Jodie kept joking that he looked like my bodyguard
And just like the movie the Bodyguard, we kinda had a Whitney Houston - Kevin Costner
thing going on.
In fact, I kept breaking out into song
(Singing)
Home to 3 million people, Greater San Diego is the third largest metro in California,
following Los Angeles and San Francisco
But San Diego is the oldest, first settled by Spain in 1769
It joined the U.S. in the 1840's
On Day Two, we headed back to the Hillcrest area for a late breakfast
After that, we crossed the enormous San Diego-Coronado Bridge and spent the afternoon in the scenic
island suburb of Coronado.
It's kind of a vacation spot, you can see the ferry behind us.
There's a ferry that comes over? That would be fun
Would've been, it would take a long time.
So next time I have to take the ferry
Here's something I've noticed, it's quite a bit cooler on this side of the water, than
it is in San Diego.
A little bit more breezy, not as many tall buildings
Little closer to what we refer to as the ocean
The other side there
Yeah, a little more of a micro climate here
And the sun is setting, which brings out a little cooler air
We were just downtown a few minutes ago and it was nice and balmy and comfortable
And over here, wooo, a bit chilly!
A little bit, little bit.
A bit nippy
Hence the jacket that's in the car.
Christopher loaned me his big, warm jacket and then drove us past the histric Hotel del
Coronado
one of the area's most beloved landmarks
Jodi had a prior engagement, so she dropped Christopher and me at a trolley station
so that he could see me back to my hotel.
So I'm here at the trolley station, we're going back downtown to the hotel and then
we're going to have dinner
I'm really excited because you know that I love trains and trolleys and things like that
But I'm especially excited about San Diego's trolley because they are so cute and red!
Red is one of my favorite colors, so I'm really, really excited about this trip!
So the trolley is coming and I'm so excited! My first time on the San Diego trolley.
Here it comes and there it goes. Press the green button this time.
San Diego's trolleys and buses are operated by MTS
One of America's oldest transit agencies, dating back to the 1880's
As the train carved through central San Diego, I felt as if I were back in Amsterdam
or another charming European capital
San Diego's bus and rail links are more extensive than the average US metro and to our viewers
in Europe, YES, you can easily travel from the airport to Downtown on MTS
And that was our first trip on the San Diego trolley
Awesome, I'd do it again in a moment
Yes, it was a great, great trip
Not bad. Clean, quick. A little late. We're here!
And they're such cute trains! Are you going to get a shot? I am!
Bye bye Green Line, bye bye!
Fun, fun, fun!
(Laughter)
I used to be extremely camera shy, by the way
Well I believe it's the company I'm keeping that makes it easier to not be as shy in front
of the lens, huh
We relaxed at my hotel before heading out for dinner
And enjoying a beautiful sunset view of San Diego Bay
And off we went
For dinner, I chose a place online that looked good because it would satisfy me as a vegetarian,
and Christopher as a meat eater
It wasn't far, but finding it took a little work
It is an absolutely beautiful night
San Diego's year-round mild weather is legendary, but in reality, it can often be chilly and
overcast.
But thankfully, not tonight!
As we made our way into the Gaslamp Quarter, the crowds became progressively larger
I instinctively grabbed onto Christopher's arm, like a schoolgirl with her big, strong
brother
On that night, Christopher really did earn the title of bodyguard
Now when I'm normally walking through a crowd, I have to say excuse me, excuse me, because
at 5'7, 125 pounds, I can be fairly easy to miss
But I did notice being with Christopher that the crowds automatically moved out of the
way
I guess when you are 6'3 and 230 pounds, "excuse me's" are not always required
The hopping pig
German food
I love that name hopping pig
yes
Two minutes is not bad
We found it!
Oh, the food turned out to be great there and Christopher and I had a wonderful time
A big thank you to the people of San Diego and to Jodie and Christopher for showing me
around, being such wonderful friends and for being so supportive of my transition
It makes the journey that much easier. Thanks guys!
A toast to great friends and great sights in San Diego, with hopes to return soon